The present invention relates to a device that transfers and prints characters and color images onto card-like recording media such as ID cards, identification papers, and various membership cards, and particularly to a technique for increasing a transfer and print speed at which each ink of an ink panel, on which a plurality of types of ink colors are continuously formed in a frame sequential manner at almost equal intervals to the width of a recording medium, is indirectly transferred to the card-like recording medium via an intermediate transfer film, or a transfer and print speed at which an ink of an ink panel is directly transferred to the card-like recording medium.
Conventionally, what is known as a print device for card-like recording media is a device that prints image data, such as photographs of faces, onto a cardboard card-like recording medium that is made of plastics or waterproofed, for example. Examples of card-like recording media include driver license, various membership cards, employee ID cards of individuals who own the cards, and other ID cards. Photographs of faces and personal information are printed on the cards. However, information whose data size is large is not printed onto a large number of cards.
In recent years, as on-demand printing, the following printer system has been known: the printer system is incorporated into a computer network, and is designed to simultaneously carry out recording of electronic data, which include to-be-displayed data, such as photographs of individuals who own cards, issuer, and types of cards, and personal information, and is connected to a network. A printer that is used for such a printer system is a sublimation-type transfer device
The sublimation-type transfer device is designed to use an ink ribbon on which a plurality of types of ink panel planes having a predetermined width corresponding to a printing width of a card are disposed in a frame sequential manner in order to transfer and print transfer images, such as characters and images, onto cards. In order to transfer and print data onto cards, a direct method and an intermediate transfer method are available: According to the direct method, data are directly printed onto cards; according to the intermediate transfer method, data are primarily transferred onto a transfer film, from which the data are then secondarily transferred onto cards. However, both the methods are the same in that, across a surface of a card or film onto which data is transferred, printing is carried out as ink panels to which colors of ink ribbons, such as yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, are applied pass thorough in such a way as to sequentially overlap.
At this time, in order for the ink panel planes to sequentially and precisely overlap with respect to a printing width of a surface of a recording medium, such as a card or a film, to which data is transferred, a transfer start position of each ink panel and a transfer start position of a recording medium need to be accurately aligned with each other at beginning positions. Conventionally, in order to carry out a cue control operation, with respect to the center of each ink panel of an ink ribbon, a process of searching for the beginning of each ink panel is carried out in such a way as to be aligned with the center of image data that is to be printed (See Patent Document 1, for example).